Sour Lake is a city in Hardin County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. The population was 1,773 at the 2020 census. It was originally named "Sour Lake Springs", after the sulphurous spring water that flowed into the nearby lake. The city is part of the

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

– Port Arthur

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. Sour Lake is the oldest surviving town in Hardin County. It is called by some the "Gateway to the

Big Thicket The Big Thicket is the name given to a somewhat imprecise region of a heavily-forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States. This area represents a portion of the mixed pine-hardwood forests of southeast US. The National Park Service esta ...

History

Image:Derricks at Sour Lake Texas.jpg, Oil derricks at Sour Lake, File:Sour Lake oil leases.jpg, Sour Lake oil leases Sour Lake was first settled around 1835 when the Mexican state of

Coahuila y Tejas Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila y Tejas (), was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution. It had two capitals: first Saltillo (1822–1825) f ...

granted Stephen Jackson one league of land covering by land grant. Sam Houston visited Sour Lake in his later years. The town is home to one of the biggest

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s in Texas. Sour Lake became a short-lived boomtown with the discovery of oil in 1901, shortly after oil was found at the nearby Spindletop

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered usin ...

. It is known as the birthplace of

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

. Formed in 1903, the Texas Company (Texaco's former corporate name) is one of the three major oil companies that can trace its origins to the oil fields around

Southeast Texas Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston ...

. The Sour Lake oilfield produced about of oil up to 1948, when it was producing about daily and new drilling was still underway. Today the Sour Lake oilfield is the oldest continuously producing oil field in the world. The town of Atcheson in Bruce McCandless's 2012 novel ''Sour Lake'' appears to be based at least loosely on the real Sour Lake. Atcheson, like the real-life Sour Lake, is situated in the Big Thicket and experienced a short-lived oil boom in early years of the 20th century. Yvette Benavides, in a ''San Antonio Express-News'' review of the book, noted, "There is a lot that is historically factual in this novel. That's part of the fun of reading ''Sour Lake''." The

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

ian jungle town commonly referred to as Lago Agrio was named after Sour Lake by Texaco when the company established the oil-producing settlement. ''Lago Agrio'' is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "Sour Lake". The official name of the Ecuadorian town is Nueva Loja.

Geography

Sour Lake is in southern Hardin County at the intersection of state highways

105 105 may refer to: *105 (number), the number *AD 105, a year in the 2nd century AD *105 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 105 (telephone number) * 105 (MBTA bus) * 105 (Northumberland) Construction Regiment, Royal Engineers, an English military unit ...

and 326. Highway 105 leads west to

Cleveland, Texas Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Liberty County. The population was 7,471 at the 2020 census. History In 1854, a church and convent were built by Father Pet ...

, and east to the

US 69 U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus (as well as ...

freeway in the northern part of

. Highway 326 leads north to Kountze, the Hardin

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

, and south to

U.S. Route 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

at Nome. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the city of Sour Lake has a total area of , of which , or 1.21%, are water.

Demographics

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 1,773 people, 820 households, and 620 families residing in the city. As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 1,667 people, 672 households, and 446 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 964.0 people per square mile (372.0/km). There were 752 housing units at an average density of 434.9 per square mile (167.8/km). The racial makeup of the city was 94.36%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 3.18%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.36% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.42% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.26% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 3.00% of the population. There were 672 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.15. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,300, and the median income for a family was $39,605. Males had a median income of $36,406 versus $24,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $15,497. About 8.5% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 15.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Sour Lake is served by the

Hardin-Jefferson Independent School District Hardin-Jefferson Independent School District is a public school district based in Sour Lake, Texas (USA). The district covers south central Hardin and northwestern Jefferson counties. In addition to Sour Lake, the district serves the cities o ...

References

External links

*
City of Sour Lake official website

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070820074223/http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=6300 1901 map of Spindletop & Sour Lake Oilfields {{authority control Cities in Hardin County, Texas Cities in Texas Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area